Quick-acting valve mechanism



July 1,1930.

w. u. GRIFFITHS 1,769,832

QUICK ACTING VALVE MECHANISM Filed April 10, 928

gag/11111.

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t ll/ mllillkn Patented July 1, 1930 P TENT OFFICE V 'WIIQLIAM'U.GRIFFITHS, 0F IHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA QUICK-ACTING. VALVE MECHANISMApplication filed April. 10,

My invention relates to quick acting valve mechanisms and isparticularly adapted for use in pressure tanks for automatically controlling the supply of air, steam, or other gaseous, fluids underpressure to a tank for t e purpose of expelling accumulated water orother liquid therefrom. Such devicesare used, for instance,'in elevatingwater from a lower to a higher level, as, for example, the returningofthe condensed water in steam heatingsystems to the boiler of the system.Generally the arrangement is suchthat when the level of theaccumulatedliquid reaches a certain height air, steam orother gaseousfluid under pressure is supplied to the tank above theliquid therein toexpel the same there: from, the flow of the gaseous fluid under pres-.sure. into the tank beinginterrupted when the liquid level drops apredetermined distance. At such moment thetank is vented in one way oranother fffnd. the gas therein allowed to escapeto permit more liquid,for example, water, to accumulate. The flow of gaseous fluid underpressure into and out of thecontainer or tank iscontrolled byquickactingvalve mechanism, and it is that mechanism to whi chmyiinvention relates.

orient the objects ofjmy invention is to provide-a mechanism ofthecharacter indicated, wherein the moving parts are so constructed andarranged that frictionsis reduced to a minimum, to thereby increase theefliciency of. the said mechanism.

Asmorespecific object of the invention-is to.v provide means ofthecharacter indicated com rising a valve'carrying and actuating mem er.which is adapted toperform its function more quicklyand promptly thanhas been possible heretofore in the devices of thischars acter of whichI am aware.

f Other o lectsandadvantages of the invene tiongwill'be set forth indetail in the following description or 'will be apparent from such description;

- In order to more fully comprehend my inventionreference should be hadto the accoma, c'onvenientembodiment of the same. However, it is to beexpressly understoodthat the invention is susceptible of" embodiment in1928.- Serial No. 268,930.

other forms of construction than that shown and that changes in thedetails of construction may be made within the scope of the claimwithout departing from the said invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of an apparatusprovided with valve actuating means embodying my invention, certainparts of the structure being shown in elevation;

. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in longitudinal vertical section of thevalve mechanism embodying the invention, taken on the line 2'2 of Fig.1; and r Fig. 3 is a view taken in a horizontal plane along the line3'-3 of Fig. 1 and showing the mlechanismembodying the invention in topp an.

For-the purpose of indicating more fully the invention and its practicalcharacteristics I have shown the same as embodied in the valve mechanismof a pressure tank structure, wherein it is employed'to control theadmis sion of air, steam, or. other gas into a tank under pressure, andalso to vent the tank at proper times or moments for the purpose ofreleasing the'gaseous fluid from the tank and permitting liquid, forexample,water to reenter the tank.

In the said drawing I have shown a tank 1 ofknown construction, having aT-coupling 2 connected thereto, to which coupling inletand outlet pipes3 and 4 are connected, the latter being provided respectively with checkvalves 5 and 6 which operate in known manner. i

Whenia predetermined amount of water has accumulated .in thetank 1 air,steam, or gaseous fluid under ressure, is admitted from a pipe. 7 thronga passageway provided in the member 8. The entry of thegaseousfluid-under pressure into the tank expels the water therefrom inlmownmanner. When-fthe expulsion ofthe water from the t'ankhasfbeencompleted the gaseous-fluid under pressure in the tank escapes therefromthrough a passageway provided in the member-9 and is conducted from saidpassageway' through apipe 10. The members 8 and: 9* are supported on asupporting base 11' which in turn is supported upon brackets 12, onlyone of which is shown, mounted in the tank 1 upon the side wall thereofin opitely disposed relation to each other.

he member 8 comprises portions 15 and 16 an larly related to each other,as shown, an the member 9 likewise includes portions 17 and related toeachother, as shown. The P6 1oi1s 16" and 18 of these members extend inhorizontal directions to- 1. They are positioned in alinement with eachother, as is shown in Figs.2 and 3 of the drawing. A valve body 20 islocated between the opposing ends of the portions 16 and 18. Theopposite ends of the said valve body are provlded with facings ofsuitable material 21 and 22, relativelysoft as compared with thematerial of the valve body 20. 2o

hese portions 21 and 22 are secured and 3316. ;in position upon the oposed ends of e valve bod by means of anged caps 23. Thewalve b0 y 1s suported in an opening in' the inner end of a s eeve member 24 whichis'rot'atably mounted upon the member 16. A The-sleevemember 24 isprovided with an o in '24 in its side, as shown in Fig. 2 o the topermit the passage of air, steam or'other gas from the passageway 30through themember S, such air, steam or otherigas beingmsup lied fromthe pipe ,7. sleevemem r 2 is provided wit a slot which extendstransversely thereof and a forming'an obtuse angle with the n inclinedrelation to the length of the slpeve24. 1A headed screw 28 is mounteduponand. projects upwardly from the ortrqii ;16, through the slot 25. Anantirichon-roller 294s mounted upon the screw 28 and' is retained inposition within the slot 25 ,of the headof the said screw. In viewer thepresence of the headed screw 28 in the slot 25 it will be apparent thatupon notation of the sleeve 24 the latter is caused tggm'pgve. upon thesaid member 16 W grie dirget ionorthe other, de nding upon t v edirection of rotation. For efpurpose of ing 0 illatory movements 0 thesleeve the operation of the system I have rovid he said-sleeve withangularlyre- .,.prqjactions 30 and 31 with the mner f an arm 32 whichprojects latan actuating weight 33, 1s adapt.- 5 tocontact alternately.l e'weight 33 is prorideaiat its inner end with a circular va rtion 35which ismounted upon a nius 36 rthe portion 18 of the q .or the, purposeof actuating the Mam-k dam c at g me p s g theangularlyrelatedarms 37and 38, which member Ilse-is pivoted upon the reduced portionfifi. Theweight islocated in the. angle.

ward each other'aund transversely of the tank memb r comprising th arms37 and 38 i8 hereofi. In other words, the slot 25 ex-' w it- 1 3 to chmp j ml movements them randy itedirections I W effected by means of afloat 40 which moves upwardly and downwardly with the upward andreceding movements of the water in the It will be assumed that in Fig. 1the valve is shown in condition with the water entering the tank 1, thefloat 40 being at such time moving upwardly. When the float 40 finallyarrives, at its uppermost position it operates to cause pivotal movementof the actuating member comprising the arms 37 and'38 in a clockwisedlrection (havin reference to Fi' 1), and when so move the sleeve 24 wit"the valve body 20carried thereby is rotated and simultaneousl moved ina direction to cause the disc or V acing 22 to be seated upon the innerend of the tubular portion 18 and close the passagewa throughthe memher9. Simultaneously t e disc or'facing21 is moved out of engagement withthe adjoining innerfend of the'portion 16, inconse quence of which theair or "other gas is admitted into the tank through the passagewayprovided in the member 8. The admission of the air or other gas underressure into thetank expels the accumulate water there from. Upon thecompletion of such expulsionand the arrival of the float 40 at or nearthe bottom of the tank 1, the valve is again actuated-to close thepassagewaythrough the member 8 and to 'open 'the passageway through themember 9. When the valve oc cupies that position water is againpermitted, to accumulate in the tank 1 to move the float upwardlwhereupon the operation previously descri ed is re eated. g The' resenceo the anti-friction roller 29 upon t e headed screw 28 which is adaptedto make-rolling contact with the opposite edges of the slot 25 reducesthe wear of the" edges of the said slot and also facilitates the.oscillatory movements of the sleeve 24, which results in axial o'rlengthwise movements thereof and of the valve body 20 carried there: byto move the facin 21 and22 alternately into 0 and close sitions with rct to-the inner ends of t e portions 18 an 16 of the members 9 and 8respectively. v

I Having thus described my invention, what I clam; and desire to secureby Letters Patentiszy r In a,.device of the character described whichisadaptedto control the admission and. emissionjofa gaseous fluid underpressure 18 to and from a pressure tank, comprising tubular membersleading into and from the said tank, the inner ends of which are locatedin spaced alined relation to each other inside the tank, a tubularmember rotatably mounted upon the inner end portion of one of the firstnamed tubular members, said rotatable tubular member being provided witha slot therein which extends in inclined angular relation with respectto the axis thereof, a valve body supported upon the outer end of saidrotatable tubular member and having valve faces on the opposite endsthereof, the said valve body being located between the inner ends of thefirst named tubular members the said rotatable tubular member having anopening in the bottom thereof for permitting fluid to flow therethrough,a projectionupon the inner end portion of the tubular member upon whichthe said rotatable tubular member is mounted, which projection extendsthrough the said slot, a roller mounted upon said projection and adaptedto engage the opposite edges of said slot, and means for effectingoscillatory movements of the said rotatable tubular member. In testimonythat I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereunto signed myname this 6th day of April, 1928. WILLIAM U. GRIFFITHS.

